House Vyridion
House Vyridion was a Household of Imperial Knights that existed at the foundation of the Imperium of Man. Through treachery and to their ever-lasting shame, House Vyridion was led to break its vows of fealty to the Imperium and join the forces of the rebellious Warmaster Horus Lupercal. Yet, after their first battle alongside the Traitors, House Vyridion recognised the error they had made and broke all ties with their former allies in order to travel to Terra and ask for the Emperor's Pardon. Imprisoned, but later pardoned, House Vyridion was called upon by the Emperor's own bodyguard, the Legio Custodes, to fight alongside them in defence of the Imperial Webway Project in the dungeons of the Imperial Palace. House History With the loss of the House's own archive during the destruction of their homeworld, House Vyridion's history is sketchy as best. In truth the only true testimony of any length are those ancient documents compiled from Baroness D'Arcus' own admission of guilt before Malcador the Sigilite and the Emperor's envoy, Diocletian Coros of the Legio Custodes. According to this testimony, Highrock -- House Vyridion's homeworld -- was liberated by an Expeditionary Fleet of the III Legion, the Emperor's Children, under the leadership of their Primarch Fulgrim. As proxy to the Emperor, it was to him and the III Legion that House Vyridion swore their Oath of Allegiance. As dictated by the tenets of the Sidon Protocols, a group of House Vyridion's Knights accompanied the Emperor's Children as they conquered the galaxy in the Emperor's name. For three generations, House Vyridion faithfully served the Imperium of Mankind, but whatever honours they gained were lost when their homeworld was put to the torch. Then came the Horus Heresy. Unaware of what had transpired on Istvaan III and during the Drop Site Massacre, House Vyridion was summoned by the Emperor's Children to mobilise for a terrible new war, a war against the Emperor's own Legiones Astartes, who they declared had gone Renegade. Faring ill against a splinter force of the Iron Hands Legion, the Emperor's Children had called upon their allies to help them, thus obtaining victory. Yet the Iron Hands had not stood alone, as they too had been reinforced by two of the many Imperial Knight Households of the Imperium, Houses Kells and Rhiatan. Following the ferocious fighting that led to the Iron Hands' extermination, House Kells retreated to their bastions, several of which were attacked and razed by the Emperor's Children and House Vyridion. Yet, with their final bastion about to fall, House Kells broke radio-silence and tried to reason with their distant cousins of House Vyridion. They spoke of the utter collapse of the Great Crusade and the havoc the Warmaster's armies were wreaking across other distant regions of space. Above all, they repeated a name that several within House Vyridion had heard -- albeit in unfounded rumours-- the name of "Istvaan". The continued pleas to finally listen to reason led Baroness Jaya D'Arcus to doubt her House's present course of action. Boldly she advised the Emperor's Children that she and her Knights would not march against House Kells until she had obtained answers. The Emperor's Children's answered by opening fire on House Vyridion's tender fleet, forcing it to retreat. It became clear that House Vyridion had been lied to, and these lies had led them to attack loyal soldiers and subjects of the Emperor. The shame still burning brightly in her heart, Baroness D'Arcus ordered her hearth-ships to carry their sacred Knight-armours back to Highrock, while she and her fellow Scions would make haste to Terra. Yet when they arrived at Terra, the Master of Mankind had already retreated into the Imperial Dungeon beneath the Imperial Palace, following his own vital agenda which could not be interrupted. According to Imperial Law and under the authority of the Regent of Terra, Malcador the Sigilite, the noble scions of House Vyridion were imprisoned, awaiting trial. The growing demands of the war, however, caused the stressed Imperial bureaucracy to forget about these valuable prisoners, until, in His Hour of need, the Emperor ordered one of His most-trusted Custodians to gather whatever fighting forces he could to defend the part of the Eldar Webway that led to the Imperial Palace. Although the incarceration of Jaya and her fellow Knights had lasted only a little over three solar months, the situation had much changed. Unknown to the Scions of House Vyridion, in retaliation for their change of heart the Emperor's Children had descended upon Highrock and destroyed it. Their venerable and precious suits of Knight-armour had likely all been destroyed and the Knight World's population slain. This news shook Baroness D'Arcus to her very core, for it meant that House Vyridion had failed in its task to protect their homeworld. Their glorious history that dated back to before the fall of Old Night had been erased. Their world and families were dead, and they were but the sorry remains of a dead House, soon to be forgotten, but Coros offered them a last chance at redemption: a formal Imperial Pardon in exchange for their continued service, and perhaps more importantly, a chance to avenge their fallen. Baroness D'Arcus accepted without hesitation. Reequipped with scavenged suits of Knight-armour Coros had secured from Zagreus Kane, the exiled Loyalist Fabricator-General of the Mechanicum, House Vyridion began an extensive training regime to give its Scions time to familiarise themselves with their new suits of armour. Thanks to the generous donations of House Krast, which supplied House Vyridion with ammunition, Baroness D'Arcus was able to muster fully two-thirds of her House in defence of the Imperial Webway Project. Many would die on the other side of the Eternity Gate, but House Vyridion survived the gruesome fighting within the Webway. The House's ultimate fate remains unknown. Notable Campaigns *'The Battle of Mount Galheim (Unknown Date.M31)' - Alongside the traitorous Emperor's Children, House Vyridion took to the field against the Iron Hands Legion and their allies in House Riathan and House Kells. House Vyridion slew or destroyed several hundred Iron Hands Astartes and vehicles as well as uncounted Imperial Army troops. During this battle, Baroness D'Arcus personally confronted and slew Baron Kells of House Riathan in single combat. *'War in the Webway - The Siege of the Impossible City (009.M31)' - Fighting alongside the Legio Custodes, the Sisters of Silence, several Titans of the Legio Ignatum and countless maniples of the Martian Mechanicum's Skitarii, the reequipped House Vyridion entered the Eldar Webway and battled the uncounted hordes of daemons and Traitor Legiones Astartes assaulting the Emperor's Imperial Webway extension, especially the bloodthirsty butchers of the World Eaters. When the enemy reached Calastar, the Impossible City, the severely depleted Loyalists had lost all of their Titan-support, and it fell to House Vyridion to hold the line and cover the retreat of the remaining Imperial forces. Their ultimate fate is unknown. However, the Emperor left standing orders that anyone other than the Talons of the Emperor or the Mechanicum forces were to be executed upon their return to realspace. Notable Knights of House Vyridion With the destruction of the Knight World of Highrock and the great vault that contained the House's valuable suits of Knight-armour, House Vyridion was requipped with those suits the Mechanicum was able to scavenge from the battlefields of the Imperium, many of them being barely battle-worthy. It takes a long time for a Scion and a Knight-suit to properly bond, a bond that becomes even more difficult to form if the Knight's Throne Mechanicum still reeks of the charred remains of its former pilot. It is a testimony to the skills and devotion of House Vyridion that they were operational within a solar week of receiving their "new" armours. With one notable exception, all Knights of House Vyridion deployed to the Eldar Webway had not been properly baptised by their new pilots. *''Aquila from the Ashes'' - The Cerastus Knight-Castigator given to Scion Devram Sevik was the only one to be properly named during the defence of the Imperial Webway Project. Scion Sevik himself painted the armorial shield as no Sacristans could be spared to do so. Aquila from the Ashes was destroyed and Sevik killed while confronting the daemonically-possessed Archimandrite. Notable Personnel *'Jaya D'Arcus' - Baroness of House Vyridion, Warden of Highrock and First Scion of the Envolius Reach, Jaya D'Arcus was the commander-in-chief of House Vyridion during the dark years of the Horus Heresy. At merely fifty-one Terran standard years of age, she was the youngest baroness House Vyridion ever had. Letting herself become embroiled in the bitter civil war that tore the Imperium apart, Baroness D'Arcus led her House alongside the Emperor's Children against those loyal to the Emperor. Seeing the error of her actions, she took it upon herself to travel to Terra and obtain forgiveness for her sins. Formally pardoned, she became one of the fiercest defenders of the Imperium, even succeeding in holding at bay and destroying the physical body of the daemonically-possessed Archimandrite. Although her life was saved by the Blood Angels Astartes Zephon of Baal, her ultimate fate following the defence of the Imperial Webway Project remains unknown. *'Devram Sevik' - Scion of House Vyridion, Devram Sevik was incarcerated alongside Baroness D'Arcus on Terra before being released on the explicit orders of Malcador the Sigilite and requisitionned to defend the Imperial Webway Project. Scion Devram Sevik valiantly gave his life trying to defeat a powerful daemon known as Drach'nyen, the Echo of the First Murder or the End of Empires, which had possessed the physical body of the Archimandrite, a towering Mechanicum-construct that acted as the general of the Mechanicum-forces within the Imperial Webway. *'Illara Latharac' - Scion of House Vyridion. Alongside her rightful ruler, Baroness D'Arcus, Illara Latharac was incarcerated on Terra before being called to fight again in defence of the Imperial Webway Project. *'Torolec' - As Sacristan Apex to House Vyridion, Torolec was the oldest still-serving retainer of the D'Arcus family, a position that allowed him considerable leeway within the usual strongly conservative structures of a Knight Household. Throughout his career, and especially during the House's time on Terra, Torolec acted as a mentor to Jaya D'Arcus and a person to liaise between his mistress and other Imperial agencies. The bond of trust between Jaya and Torolec was such that he was the only Sacristan of House Vyridion to be allowed to accompany the Knights when they entered the Eldar Webway. House Appearance House Colours The official colours of House Vyridion were a flamboyant laurel-green and black. House Arms The arms of House Vyridion depicted a rearing pegasus on a field of green and black. Sources * The Master of Mankind (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Chs. 3, 8, 12, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24 Category:H Category:Adeptus Mechanicus Category:History Category:Imperial History Category:Imperial Walkers Category:Imperium Category:Knight Houses Category:Walkers Category:Imperial Knights Category:Chaos Knights